Kakashi Masters All Elements, Rewrites the Ninja World for Rin!

Hm?

Did I say something?

Kakashi blinked as he watched Yagura's baby-faced scowl contort into something between rage and… excitement?

The blood spurting from his mouth added a dramatic flair. Too dramatic, actually.

"Is this what happens when someone gives you a compliment for the first time in years?" Kakashi mused internally, expression completely unreadable behind his mask.

Poor guy. Must've been a lonely Mizukage.

He even gave Yagura a sympathetic head tilt for good measure.

Yagura's eyes twitched violently.

Sympathy? From him?!

"I'll kill you today, you little brat!" Yagura roared, chakra flaring as he formed a one-handed seal.

"Water Style: Grand Waterfall Technique!"

Behind Yagura, a towering fifty-meter-high wave surged forward, crashing toward Kakashi like a tsunami summoned by rage itself. The force gouged the terrain, creating a massive artificial lake, washing away all of Kakashi's Flying Thunder God seals in the process.

Kakashi, who now had no teleport markers, was swept under like laundry in a spin cycle.

"Water Style: Thousand Meals!"

Yagura slammed the lake's surface with his palm, and thousands of shark-shaped water bombs appeared, speeding toward Kakashi at the lake bottom.

Kakashi stared at the incoming horde.

"Thousands? Really? Someone's compensating for something."

He sighed inwardly. Yep. Definitely Kage-level. The kind of guy who had an entire aquatic zoo preloaded and ready to bite.

"Fine. Let's play dirty."

"Seventh Gate — Open!"

Boom!

Blue steam erupted as Kakashi broke through the water, blitzing forward at supersonic speed. The sheer pressure around him disintegrated the shark bombs on contact. In a flash, he appeared right before Yagura and drove his fist straight into the Mizukage's chest.

Crack!

The already-wounded sternum shattered like ceramic. Yagura's body arched backward midair, mouth gaping in pain.

Worth it. Probably.

Kakashi's right arm, now shattered in several places, hung uselessly at his side.

"Yep. Definitely wasn't built for this. Next time, let Gai keep the 'open-all-the-gates-and-break-your-own-skeleton' thing."

The pain screamed through every nerve ending. Chidori was one thing — this felt like hugging a lightning bolt while running a marathon with broken ankles.

Still, through gritted teeth and internal sarcasm, he pressed his palms together.

A swirl of white gas formed between them.

Day Tiger.

A white tiger, formed from compressed air and pure chakra, shot from his hands, chasing after the airborne Mizukage.

"Hit him while he's down," Kakashi muttered, "Medical nin 101. And ninja common sense."

Yagura, trying to gather chakra for another jutsu, grimaced as pain surged through his chest again. The chakra flow halted.

All he could do was watch the tiger come.

The tiger opened its maw and slammed into him midair.

Boom!

The sky lit up with the explosion of compressed air. Blood burst from Yagura's body like red fireworks, his figure crashing limply into the lake.

The surrounding water, no longer maintained by chakra, began to recede. The summoned sharks vanished like smoke in the wind.

Thud.

Kakashi's own body, capillaries ruptured and strength depleted, dropped like a stone into the shallows. The forcefully opened Eight Gates slammed shut as his body finally gave in.

In his final conscious moment, he activated Ninja Art: Mitotic Regeneration, barely stabilizing himself.

"Rin would be disappointed if I croaked here."

Using the last vestiges of will, he sensed the chakra signature of Shisui — twenty kilometers away.

Flying Thunder God. One shot left.

He vanished.

Oink. Oink.

A dozen masked Kirigakure Anbu appeared atop the surrounding trees.

"Is this where the Mizukage fought?"

"With this level of destruction... who the hell did he face?"

"Was it Sarutobi Hiruzen himself?"

This squad had been left behind — deemed too slow by Yagura earlier. Now, attracted by the tremors and noise, they arrived just in time for the aftermath.

One of them frowned. "Where's the Mizukage-sama?"

The question silenced everyone.

Could it be…?

The ground was cratered, trees uprooted, terrain unrecognizable. No doubt a clash of titans had just occurred.

Suddenly—

"Over there!"

A sharp-eyed kunoichi pointed toward the lakebed.

There, bruised and bloodied, Yagura's body lay motionless.

Swish!

The Anbu rushed down immediately. One of them, skilled in medical ninjutsu, rushed forward with trembling hands and checked for a pulse.

Her expression froze.

Then crumbled.

Green chakra lit her palms as she pressed them to Yagura's chest, but after a few seconds—

Snap.

The light faded. A single tear escaped beneath her mask.

"What's wrong?!"

"Mizukage-sama… why did you stop healing?!"

More and more voices rose in panic.

"Sui… Mizukage-sama is dead."

Her voice trembled as it broke the silence.

The words struck like thunder.

"WHAT?!"

"No way!"

"You're kidding… right?!"

"We're in the Land of Water! Water Style is buffed here — 30% stronger, at least!"

"Who could kill him here?!"

"Was it really the Third Hokage?"

The Anbu broke into chaos.

"Silence!"

The Anbu captain, though clearly grief-stricken, took control.

"Retrieve the Mizukage's body. Now. We return to Kirigakure immediately."

"And alert the elders. The Mizukage has fallen."

"Yes, sir!"

As the squad mobilized, the captain turned toward the gray sky.

"The sky over Kirigakure… is about to change."